


(don't) Let it Snow

by LiraelClayr007



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Cold Weather, Couch Cuddles, Fluff, M/M, Sharing Body Heat, Snow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-13
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2021-01-30 01:01:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21419599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiraelClayr007/pseuds/LiraelClayr007
Summary: He cannot take another winter like this, with the cold seeping up through the floors and tiny seams around windows. (Tony can ramble on all he wants about the perfection of this building--Bucky can feel the cold come in around the windows.) He has a solution, however--he knows that the best way to keep warm is shared body heat.So he watches.He listens.He waits.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton
Comments: 18
Kudos: 93





	(don't) Let it Snow

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, this is 100% a result of me despising the cold and not being ready for the 5" of snow we already have on the ground. In November. In _mid_-November.
> 
> Brr.

Steve bursts into the Tower’s common floor with the energy of a toddler. “It’s snowing!”

“Well fuck.”

Steve visibly droops; everyone turns to look at Bucky. “I actually said that out loud, then?” he asks.

Nods all around. Steve says, “Language,” but it’s half-hearted.

“I don’t like snow very much.” He shrugs.

“Way to kill the mood, sunshine,” Tony quips.

Bucky’s wearing three layers today. T-shirt, long-sleeved t-shirt, hooded sweatshirt. Plus two pairs of socks. And still he’s cold. The heat in the Tower is fine, and on his floor it’s actually set higher than any of the others, but he can still feel the cold in his bones. And when it gets cold like this--deeply, bitterly cold--it hurts his arm.

The one he doesn’t have anymore.

He rubs his shoulder, where flesh meets metal. He knows the ache in his arm is actually in his head, but that doesn’t make it feel any better.

It might actually make it worse.

Of course, he doesn’t complain. He hates that he’d let his thoughts show in the Tower that afternoon. He’s the fucking Winter Soldier. The Winter Soldier...well, he soldiers on. He doesn’t complain. But he cannot take another winter like this, with the cold seeping up through the floors and tiny seams around windows. (Tony can ramble on all he wants about the perfection of this building--Bucky can feel the cold come in around the windows.) He has a solution, however--he knows that the best way to keep warm is shared body heat.

So he watches.

He listens.

He waits.

It isn’t a patient time, this waiting. (It is a _cold_ time, and--as has been established--he does _not_ like the cold.)

At first he watches and wonders. Which one will it be? Because there has to be someone else in the Tower who would rather be someplace warm, feeling sun on skin, than trapped here in frigid New York.

But after nine days--each day colder than the last--he doesn’t care anymore. He can’t feel his toes, or his fingertips, and he’s considering adding an afghan to his layers, even when he’s walking around from floor to floor.

So at this point the _who_ doesn’t matter. (Much.) He looks around the common room, thinking. He knows Steve would cuddle him if he asked. (He’s not going to ask.) (Only if he’s desperate, and he’s not desperate.) (Yet.) His eyes land on Bruce, and he wonders idly how warm the Hulk is. He dismisses the thought--he’s likely quite warm, but the whole experience would be far too tense. His eyes flick to Natasha. He wouldn’t say no, but she’d probably rather go a few rounds in the gym than snuggle.

He’s about to give up for the day, make his way back to his own sofa and the nest of blankets he has waiting there, when Barton flops down next to him.

“Share,” he says, tugging at Bucky’s afghan.

Bucky looks up at him, surprised. “What?” Barton asks. “You’re the only one who gets to be warm? You’ve got to know that the best way to stay warm in weather like this is to share body heat.”

“Yeah,” says Bucky, his voice slightly strangled.

Clint pulls up the edge of the blanket and scoots closer to Bucky. “So share.” He pulls up Bucky’s arm, ducks underneath, then tucks his long legs up underneath himself. Pulling the blanket up to his chin--and Bucky’s arm around his shoulders--he sighs dramatically. “Much better,” he says.

There is heat radiating from Clint, and Bucky feels warm for the first time in ages. “Thanks,” he says.

Clint looks up at him with a grin. “You’re the one sharing your blanket.” he says.

“Yeah,” Bucky says. Then again he says, “Thanks.”

“You know that sharing body heat thing works better if you take off your clothes,” Bruce says conversationally.

Heat rises to Bucky’s cheeks.

“Maybe later,” Clint says. He looks at Bucky and winks.

Huh. 

Under the blanket, a warm, calloused palm presses against his own. Clint’s smile is slight, just playing at the edges of his lips, and meant only for Bucky.

One more time, this time for only Clint’s ears, he whispers, “Thanks.”

Clint squeezes his hand. “Anytime.”

**Author's Note:**

> When I was writing this I got to typing too fast and I wrote "...the best way to keep warm is shared boy heat."
> 
> _Eh,_ I thought. _In this case, it's the same thing._
> 
> 😉


End file.
